INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 13 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: JimH on September 09, 2008, 01:47:35 pm

Title: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: JimH on September 09, 2008, 01:47:35 pm
I think my favorite new feature in MC13 is the Link Bar.  It's something we tried first in Performer Media Center (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=48783.0), then moved to MC13. 


Here's a picture:

(http://www.pix01.com/gallery/8D12431D-7EA0-495D-9EA2-775091458CB9/Media_Center_13.0.33/1069915102_orig0.jpg)

And here's a description:

Notice the bar in the upper right, underneath the search?  It says:

Google    Images     Wiki     Youtube

Those are the links.  When you are playing a file and click on those, MC will open the site and search for the Artist you're playing.

The window that's open over the player is the Link Manager.  You can use it to add new links or to change the existing ones.

If your list of links exceeds the space available, the list gets shortened and a couple of chevrons are added -- like this >>.  When you click on them, a dropdown list opens, displaying the rest of the links.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar
Post by: JimH on September 09, 2008, 01:51:26 pm
Try playing a track, then click on Wiki.  You'll see the wikipedia page, usually with a very complete artist bio and discography.  Since using the new player, I've learned a lot about artists I like, and I've found some new music using this link.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar
Post by: dcwebman on September 10, 2008, 07:44:27 am
I modified the Google search to find the lyrics for a song: http:////www.google.com//search?q=Hexify([Artist] [Name] lyrics)

Works great for the selected track but once the browser switches to the search, the Tag window with the selected track is no longer available. It would be nice if I could then easily cut and paste into the Lyrics field at that point. Even if I hit Back from the browser back into MC it doesn't remember the selected track so I have to go select it again in order to add the lyrics.

Not exactly sure what [Search] is supposed to be pulling but it seems to be the artist?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar
Post by: mobyfrag on September 10, 2008, 10:45:59 am
Which web render engine is used?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar
Post by: JimH on September 10, 2008, 10:47:45 am
Which web render engine is used?
IE
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar
Post by: zxsix on September 10, 2008, 06:14:38 pm
I modified the Google search to find the lyrics for a song: http:////www.google.com//search?q=Hexify([Artist] [Name] lyrics)

Works great for the selected track but once the browser switches to the search, the Tag window with the selected track is no longer available. It would be nice if I could then easily cut and paste into the Lyrics field at that point. Even if I hit Back from the browser back into MC it doesn't remember the selected track so I have to go select it again in order to add the lyrics.

Split views can help here.  Just open the same view or playlist on both panes.
Do your lyric finding on the right side and then paste into the tags using the duplicate view on the left side.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar
Post by: dcwebman on September 11, 2008, 07:44:12 am
Split views can help here.  Just open the same view or playlist on both panes.
Do your lyric finding on the right side and then paste into the tags using the duplicate view on the left side.
Yup, didn't think of that, thanks. That will work for the time being until we can get Lyrics Finder to work with MC13.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: T2Mac on September 13, 2008, 05:10:43 am
I love this new feature... how about the option to open in a new tab inside MC?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: mabes on September 13, 2008, 01:45:34 pm
Only Google and Wiki will open in an external browser for me.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: Matt on September 13, 2008, 04:03:21 pm
I love this new feature... how about the option to open in a new tab inside MC?

Future builds will allow control+click or middle-click to open in a new tab.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: MrHaugen on September 16, 2008, 01:11:47 pm
What about a way to see the wiki content etc. in the other split view? Would be most amazing as you don't have to open a new tab or anything.

Here's an example: http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/10 (http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/10)
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: leezer3 on September 16, 2008, 03:18:14 pm
Only Google and Wiki will open in an external browser for me.

Make sure you've selected to open your links in an external browser- Easy to miss :)
Other than that, they've always worked fine for me.

Cheers

-Leezer-
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: mabes on September 16, 2008, 05:02:53 pm
I did that, that's why I'm confused.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: dNj on September 16, 2008, 07:16:16 pm
I love it. Thanks MC Team.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: mabes on September 18, 2008, 02:47:05 pm
Anyone know how to add AllMusic.com? It already can be accessed with Artist Info but that's only the currently playing track.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: tcman41 on September 20, 2008, 08:27:45 am
anyone interested in music should add in allmusic.com as a link, that only site in the world that matters for music.  ;D

TC
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: HTPC4ME on September 22, 2008, 05:34:51 pm
dcwebman.. is lyrics finder coming back?

Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: runemail on September 23, 2008, 04:05:06 am
This feature should provide an easy way to add web links/searches, kind of like adding search engines in firefox. where j.river should manage a list of the the 10? most relevant/popular links, and links to a webpage with "one click to install" user submitted links.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: marko on September 23, 2008, 05:14:09 am
Anyone know how to add AllMusic.com? It already can be accessed with Artist Info but that's only the currently playing track.

Copy the info in the code box below, then open MC's link manager.
Click on the add button, then click the 'paste from clipboard' button.

AMG Artist search:
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">Artist on AMG</Item>
<Item Name="Filter">[media type]=audio</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.allmusic.com</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.allmusic.com//cg//amg.dll?p=amg&amp;sql=1:Replace([artist],/ ,|)</Item>
</Link>

if you want an album search, and/or a track search too, repeat the above steps using the code snippets below:

AMG Album search:
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">Album on AMG</Item>
<Item Name="Filter">[media type]=audio</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.allmusic.com</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.allmusic.com//cg//amg.dll?p=amg&amp;sql=2:Replace([album],/ ,|)</Item>
</Link>

AMG Track name search:
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">Track on AMG</Item>
<Item Name="Filter">[media type]=audio</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.allmusic.com</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.allmusic.com//cg//amg.dll?p=amg&amp;sql=3:Replace([name],/ ,|)</Item>
</Link>


-marko.

Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: cwilliams222 on September 23, 2008, 07:50:47 am
Marko,

How would one make combinations of the 3 snippets you provided?  For example, What if I wanted to do the allmusic search on artist and song title, so the search was more limited than opening it up to anyone who put out a song by that title?  I tried "playing" with it a little, but didn't get the results I thought I should get.  Not sure exactly how to alter the code you provided.

thanks
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: dcwebman on September 24, 2008, 07:11:19 am
dcwebman.. is lyrics finder coming back?
Sorry I meant Lyrics Editor. There is no plug-in that finds lyrics anymore that I know of.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: dcwebman on September 24, 2008, 07:16:52 am
Copy the info in the code box below, then open MC's link manager.
Click on the add button, then click the 'paste from clipboard' button.
Thanks marko, that is just too cool. The Paste worked great.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: HTPC4ME on September 24, 2008, 09:53:15 am
ok thanks for clarification.. cause i thought i read other day it was discontinued.  but wasnt sure if you took over the project.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: carbo on September 24, 2008, 10:59:03 am
Could you add the possibility to define an internal link (inside MC) in this list ?

The idea would be to specify a scheme by its name and to select by default artist/album/custom fields.

This way, it would replace the "locate artist/album..." of the context menu and make possible to link different views and enhance library browsing.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: park on September 28, 2008, 09:47:28 pm
Anybody know a good link for movie posters?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: DaveL on October 22, 2008, 05:04:22 pm
Are the AMG links working for anyone else?  For me the site opens, but always to the main page.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: eba on October 22, 2008, 05:16:02 pm
Didn't think I'd get much out of this, but having used it a bit I now really like it :)

Future builds will allow control+click or middle-click to open in a new tab.

It would be nice if you could specify it to always open in a new tab, in addition to the inside program/external browser options.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: leezer3 on October 22, 2008, 07:33:23 pm
Anybody know a good link for movie posters?

That would be:
http://www.impawards.com
Saying that though, off the top of my head I can't get it to link properly, as it uses a hosted Google solution instead of the internal. I'll figure it out, but not at this time of night!

One of mine, primarily useful for audiobooks (Currently limited to audio only, equally though if you have ebooks the media type filter can be discarded)-
Book Covers & Information-
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">Book Covers & Information</Item>
<Item Name="Filter">[media type]=audio</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.fantasticfiction.co.uk//search//?searchfor=book&keywords=[album]</Item>
</Link>

-Leezer-
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: DaveL on October 22, 2008, 07:37:33 pm
Are the AMG links working for anyone else?  For me the site opens, but always to the main page.

Nevermind,  I restarted the app an now they are working...
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: p7389 on October 24, 2008, 05:57:25 am
I just took the plunge into 13 and this is an excellent function! I set up a lyrics search, and it's great... but: I have split view with one pane always on playing now... This is the smaller one, of course, and in the bigger I have the library view and other things. So when I click the lyrics google search, I get it in this small area.. Is there anyway to set MC up so that clicking the link in the right view opens upp the link as a new tab in the left view? The links in the library view are of course context sensitive to the library, so that's good... Is it possible? And if not, can it be made to be possible?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: JimH on October 24, 2008, 08:40:39 am
We'll take a look.  Thanks for the purchase.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: MrHaugen on October 24, 2008, 09:48:16 am
I just took the plunge into 13 and this is an excellent function! I set up a lyrics search, and it's great... but: I have split view with one pane always on playing now... This is the smaller one, of course, and in the bigger I have the library view and other things. So when I click the lyrics google search, I get it in this small area.. Is there anyway to set MC up so that clicking the link in the right view opens upp the link as a new tab in the left view? The links in the library view are of course context sensitive to the library, so that's good... Is it possible? And if not, can it be made to be possible?

Yes. Would be a huge improvement to be able to set the default Tab or Column to open the search in. That way you don't have to go back all the time, and you could compare results etc.
It's the only reason why I have not started to use it fully my self.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: p7389 on October 24, 2008, 02:41:39 pm
The next thing you should do is to create a lyrics editor / viewer in MC, and then when you browse you should be able to select the text and select 'send to lyrics for current file'... If it was that easy, I might actually start to populate some lyrics - as it is now, I get them online all the time when I want them, and they stay online. And the new link bar sure expediates that process! So, again, many kudos on that.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: craft on October 24, 2008, 06:14:46 pm
null
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: JimH on October 24, 2008, 06:16:44 pm
Right click on the link bar when you're in Audio.  Then choose Add.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: craft on October 24, 2008, 06:37:26 pm
null
Title: Request for another "action"
Post by: <°)))))>< on October 25, 2008, 03:48:44 am
Nice new feature, especially with the action "Open in new tab" :-)

Unfortunately there is always little space for tabs... So how about
a fourth action like "Open in site tab" or "Open in domain tab" that
will open all Google searches in the "Google tab" (if already opened,
otherwise open it), all AMG searches in the "AMG tab" and so on?

This way you can compare search results but there is not so much
need for repetitive closing of tabs...
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: park on October 29, 2008, 12:30:03 pm
Leezer, did you find out how to get the movie posters link working? Do you know of another way to get them in batches for files (mkvs and avis, not vobs)?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: stil_learning on March 08, 2009, 07:13:47 am
Hi all,

I'm very fond of the new links functionality, but don't know quite how to add new links and make them work fullly.
I would like to add last.fm and imeem.com and deezer.com so that I can add a track or favourite channel to my webmedia, just like you would with youtube video's or get the relevant search results when playing a track and clciking the link.
Would this work with those sites and could anyone help me with instructions?

Thank you!!
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: JimH on March 08, 2009, 08:05:52 am
Welcome to Interact.  Right click on the link bar and choose "Customize".
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: AoXoMoXoA on March 08, 2009, 09:37:56 am
Here are two I use:

Sloth Radio (for cover art search):
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">Sloth Radio</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.slothradio.com/covers/</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.slothradio.com//covers//?adv=&amp;artist=[Artist]&amp;album=[Album]</Item>
</Link>

Rate Your Music (for covers and info)
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">R-Y-M</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://rateyourmusic.com/</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////rateyourmusic.com//search?searchterm=[Artist]&amp;searchtype=a</Item>
</Link>

and here's one more:

AlbumArt.org
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">AlbumArt.org</Item>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://albumart.org/</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////albumart.org//index.php?srchkey=[Artist]+-+[Album]&amp;itempage=1&amp;newsearch=1&amp;searchindex=Music</Item>
</Link>
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: stil_learning on March 08, 2009, 03:28:28 pm
Hey, thanks a lot for the replies!

but how do I create a working search URL in customize? Is it the same for each site or how do I retrieve the right URL search code?
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: leezer3 on March 08, 2009, 04:38:09 pm
Leezer, did you find out how to get the movie posters link working? Do you know of another way to get them in batches for files (mkvs and avis, not vobs)?

Sorry, forgot about this thread. This is the best I can do; The results aren't as good as through the main IMPawards search engine (I believe this is because it uses Google ranking thingys, rather than a simple text query)-
Quote
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">IMPAwards</Item>
<Item Name="Filter"/>
<Item Name="Action">2</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.impawards.com</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.impawards.com//cgi-bin//htsearch?words=Hexify([Search])</Item>
</Link>

-Leezer-
Title: Amazing
Post by: haylo75 on March 24, 2009, 07:13:48 am
For me, the link bar combined with the tabbed interface is the single best new feature in MC13.  I've been a loyal user since MJ8, and I can't recall having been as excited about a new feature as I am this!  Saving myself all the repetitive typing and flipping back and forth between programs has been such a big help.  I like how I can Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab to navigate amongst open tabs like in Firefox.  I was a bit disappointed (just a bit) that I couldn't trigger a new tab by using the browser equivalent Ctrl+T.  Is there any chance of having this functionality implemented in a future build?

Kudos, Interact!
Title: Re: Amazing
Post by: Matt on March 24, 2009, 07:53:04 am
For me, the link bar combined with the tabbed interface is the single best new feature in MC13.  I've been a loyal user since MJ8, and I can't recall having been as excited about a new feature as I am this!  Saving myself all the repetitive typing and flipping back and forth between programs has been such a big help.  I like how I can Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab to navigate amongst open tabs like in Firefox.  I was a bit disappointed (just a bit) that I couldn't trigger a new tab by using the browser equivalent Ctrl+T.  Is there any chance of having this functionality implemented in a future build?

Kudos, Interact!

Thanks for the kind words.

Ctrl+T toggles zones, so we may be painted into a corner on that one.  It might be reasonable to change the zone shortcut since Ctrl+T seems like an emerging standard.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: Doof on March 24, 2009, 08:56:50 am
Since this thread got ressurected, I figured I'd add this one:

Search for a Music Video on YouTube

<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">Music Video</Item>
<Item Name="Filter">[Media Type]=[Audio]</Item>
<Item Name="Action">0</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.youtube.com</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.youtube.com//results?search_type=&amp;search_query=Hexify([Artist]+[Name])</Item>
</Link>
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: haylo75 on March 24, 2009, 12:42:59 pm
EDIT 2010-03-10 - I am updating the XML for the last.fm Artist and Track links I posted, as well as adding a last.fm Album link.
----------

Matt - I appreciate your consideration.  I'm flexible on implementation, though Ctrl+T does seem to be an emerging standard for creating tabs in UIs with that functionality.  That made me wonder how Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V (Command for Appleites :D) emerged as the de facto standard for Cut / Copy / Paste.  Per wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_and_paste), it appears Apple first came up with those particular key combinations.

Thanks, Doof, for the YouTube link.  Creating these links is addictive!  I used the Lyrics one posted earlier in this thread, though I'd like to create one targeted toward a specific (read good) lyrics site that will directly return song lyrics instead of a list of potential matches.  I need to do more research.

Here are a couple links I created for use with last.fm:

last.fm Artist
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">last.fm-Artist</Item>
<Item Name="Filter"/>
<Item Name="Action">0</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.last.fm</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.last.fm//music//Replace([artist], ,+)</Item>
</Link>

last.fm Album
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">last.fm-Album</Item>
<Item Name="Filter"/>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.last.fm</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.last.fm//music//Replace([artist], ,+)//Replace([album], ,+)</Item>
</Link>

last.fm Track
Code: [Select]
<Link version="1.1">
<Item Name="Name">last.fm-Track</Item>
<Item Name="Filter"/>
<Item Name="Action">1</Item>
<Item Name="Base URL">http://www.last.fm</Item>
<Item Name="Search URL">http:////www.last.fm//music//Replace([artist], ,+)//_//Replace([name], ,+)</Item>
</Link>

----------------
Listening to: U2 - The Fly (http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/u2/track/the+fly)
via FoxyTunes (http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/)
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: stil_learning on March 24, 2009, 06:22:41 pm
Thank you so much for this link Haylo 75!! You're a top guy!
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: MrHaugen on March 25, 2009, 08:34:56 am
I love this feature my self, but I don't use it that much. The reason is all the back and forth between the pages. Most people have Widescreens today, so why not take advantage of this?

What I would love is for the search result to end up in the other split view. Either it is to the right, left, under or above. If we could mark one of the windows as the designated search page, it would even be less confusing for people who uses more than two splits.
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: AoXoMoXoA on March 25, 2009, 08:46:56 am
I love this feature my self, but I don't use it that much. The reason is all the back and forth between the pages. Most people have Widescreens today, so why not take advantage of this?

What I would love is for the search result to end up in the other split view. Either it is to the right, left, under or above. If we could mark one of the windows as the designated search page, it would even be less confusing for people who uses more than two splits.

X2
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: Lasse_Lus on March 25, 2009, 10:42:47 am
i really like the linkbar  :)

my suggestions to make it even better

be able to open multiple webpages in one click as you can do when using similar function in send to external
this is very handy for example when you don't use search but direct URL

be able to open tab(s) in the background

if you use external browser, be able to keep MC in front

big thanks and credits for letting the links be separated for each library
Title: Re: NEW: Link Bar & Link Manager
Post by: fitbrit on March 25, 2009, 11:11:08 am
i really like the linkbar  :)

my suggestions to make it even better

be able to open multiple webpages in one click as you can do when using similar function in send to external
this is very handy for example when you don't use search but direct URL

be able to open tab(s) in the background

if you use external browser, be able to keep MC in front

big thanks and credits for letting the links be separated for each library

Some good ideas right there.